crazy idea ?

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by dcb

re: pushrod suspension, you are adding sprung weight though, in the form of a pushrod and a bellcrank. AFAIKT it does allow a progressive "spring rate" without progressive springs (as do other non-pushrod/rocker geometries), but still it is extra weight between the spring and the road and thus "sprung weight", just like a pushrod engine needs the pushrods and rockers to be moved by the valve springs half the time.

Unless spring tension increases non-linearly (and dramatically) with weight, I don't see the "reduce unsprung" weight argument as valid, not yet anyway.

If done right then it shouldn't add to the weight, or at least I thought that was the idea ? Apologies, o/t but I would like to know, so I drew this :



A = spring / damper unit,
B, C = upper and lower joint. the upper joint extends to form the top of the rocker
D = the wheel

The "unsprung" part should be everything outboard of B and C, and the top of the rocker - between B and the top of the damper / spring.

The other advantage in open wheel cars is to reduce the "stuff" sitting in the airflow - as in F1 / Indy Car.

Apologies if I am mistaken, I am keen to learn...

[dcb]

everything that moves with suspension travel is "sprung", plus 1/2 the spring mass itself as a rule of thumb, AFAIK.

I can appreciate that F1 might not use it unless there was some advantage, I just don't know that unsprung weight is one of them without some details about precisely how that is supposed to work.

You agree that pushrods in a pushrod engine are "sprung" though, right? and thus they limit how well the valvetrain can track the cam at higher rpm.

[Frank Lee]

The unsprung bits are all those that move directly with the road surface; adding linkage between a-arm or spindle and shock or strut HAS to add unsprung mass just by the fact that the a-arm or spindle and shock or strut are now not directly connected.

I noticed that suspension link too and thought well, this thing is all about bling so they did it for visual impact.

[larrybuck]

To mnmarcus:
I know we all have different tastes.
I was born about a month before the '55 Chevies hit the showroom floor. It was the 1st yr. for the small block Chev. V8, which has turned the world upside down in racing records over the decades.

It is that romantic feeling of simplier days when my country was more in a shape to be proud of!

I've owned 3 different '55's in the 70's. That's my highest repeat number.

In 5 other cases, I've had single repeats, 2 of them were motorcycles.

WA. state recently passed a law stating that the pollution devices on a replica car only need to be at the year level of what the replica is trying to represent.

Also a kitcar as such doesn't have to have bumpers.


The last two paragraphs may rangle some of you; but to me it is still a chance to enjoy some freedoms, before anything fun is regulated away.

Due to our incredible short summers here, plus the fact that most people would probably only drive it a max of 2 days a week, during summer; I don't think that would make a horrible carbon footprint worth mentioning. Especially..............

if said veh. was downsized, and ecomodded!!!!